![]() The greens were fast, but not excessively so. Happily, the GPS provided on the electric carts shows the position of the carts in the group ahead, including yardage to each cart so you won't tee off until they are out of range. Although we didn't really get a feeling of great elevation changes, the rolling terrain results in several blind tee shots. Take a one stroke penalty, but don't go back to the original spot and hit another ball. So many trees that in order to speed up play the course has adopted a local rule that a ball lost in the woods is to be played as a ball lost in a lateral hazard. And, of course, they were lined with trees. The fairways were adequately wide, gently rolling, and in great condition. That's about the only thing we found to object to on this course. I should start by noting that there weren't any real lakes evident on the course, but there were woods all over, and there were probably more oaks than pines. We played Lakes and Woods, so this review is limited to those nines. The Pines at Grand View Lodge includes three nine-hole tracks named Lakes, Woods, and Marsh. A mesmerizing approach to a well-guarded green with a pond right awaiting errant wedges. A downhill precise drive is required to attack this hidden green from the tee box. The Par-4 4th hole on the Marsh nine is one of my favorites in all of a Brainerd. A fun, interesting course if you don’t mind several blind tee shots and a two-foot breaking putt on anything over 10-feet away.īest Hole(s): The Par-4 6th is a beautiful, short Par 4 that has the most expansive view on the Woods nine and requires a precise short-iron approach to one of the longest greens on property. The Verdict: The Pines may be the Brainerd O.G., but it’s been passed by the newer, modern courses during the late 90’s resort golf explosion. The bug life and flies on the course are unbearable. Overpriced at $110 peak season compared to other courses in the area. The greens are well-conditioned, but many are so undulating that they are almost unplayable. I tend to enjoy courses that are more of a “right in front of you” type of design. The Bad: There are WAY too many blind tee shots for my liking. Freddy’s Grille is a decent little restraint inside the eclectic clubhouse. Nice, accommodating staff will ensure you have a nice, leisurely walk in the park. Very good fairway and course conditions, as well as some of the most challenging, undulating greens in the Brainerd area. ![]() The Marsh nine is more sporty, with several downhill drives leading to uphill, tough approaches. The Woods is the more scenic of the two nines, with two beautiful short, downhill Par 3’s and an eye-popping closing Par 5 9th with a pond (and wooden eagle nests) by the green. I played the Woods/Marsh combo, which is widely considered the best two-nine routing on the course. The Good: The Pines, a 27-hole resort course affiliated with Grand View Lodge about 15 minutes north of Brainerd, is a solid Joel Goldstrand design that many consider the modern Godfather of the Brainerd golf boom. I'm not a fan of hitting irons off the tee on Par 5's but if that's your thing, this course has that in spades as many of the holes are less than driver (there's also a Par 3 where you could hit driver off the tee if you're not very long) The course is always in immaculate condition, and this weekend was no different. We were thankful to not only live another day (a large birch tree fell during the storms across the cartpath near the clubhouse) but also to get all of our rounds in at this course. This is my first "bad" experience with the GVL group, so I'm not going to hold it over their heads too much, but I felt like they could've handled the day's weather and our play much better. We played cart path only, which slowed the pace of play down a ton, and the pro shop sent out twosomes in between our group at the turn, for whatever reason (twice - we played 36 holes this day). This did not sit well with myself or my group and I understand we had this event planned several months in advance, but putting our lives on the line to keep our tee times is not something I ever plan to do again. Keep in mind, I noted there were thunderstorms, with a lot of lightning and we were told to play. Thunderstorms started at 2am, and didn't let up until we were through 9 holes and yet we were told to play away as our tee times were not going to be pushed back due to weather. ![]() This year was no different, except for the weather. First off, we come here every year as part of a guys "Ryder Cup weekend".
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